ever do that which they so abhorred as that they would die any the cruellest Death in the World over and over rather than once do O far be it from us ever to do any such thing I may add here the Punishments that spiritual Fornicators are liable unto for it excludes them from Communion with the Church Militant and Triumphant and exposes them to temporal Destruction and eternal Condemnation 1. It shuts out from Communion with the Church Militant here on Earth If a Christian became guilty of it if he were an Idolater in the Apostles days Christians were to have no Communion with him not to keep company with him not so much as to eat with him but to avoid all Commerce and Converse not only sacred but civil with him 1 Cor. 5.11 Neither were Christians to joyn with Idolaters in their Worship but to come out from among them and to be separate the Temple of God having no agreement with the Temple of Idols 2 Cor. 16.17 Nor were Idolaters to joyn with Christians in their Worship whilst they continued Idolaters but were to be without not suffered to be in the holy City the new Jerusalem the Church to Christ on Earth as Members of it or Communicants in it So the state of that City or Church is described Rev. 22.15 For without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and idolaters and whoever loveth and maketh a lie This spiritual Fornication keeps from coming into the Church and turns out of it also such as are in are guilty of it and therefore there is great reason for our avoiding it But further it excludes from Communion with the Church Triumphant in Heaven Idolaters are of those sorts of Sinners that shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 Gal. 5.20 Eph. 5.5 No Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God for spiritual Fornicators for Worshippers of Images and Idols And who would make himself a Slave to a piece of painted or graven Earth to lose thereby a solid Inheritance in Heaven 2. It exposes to temporal Destruction and eternal Condemnation First to temporal Destruction in this present World Thus Ahaz and all Israel was ruined by this sin 2 Chron. 28.2 They the false Gods the Idols of Damascus which that idolatrous King did serve and sacrifice unto they were the ruine of him and all Israel that is he and all Israel were ruined brought to destruction by and for that Idolatry of his and theirs Long before that whilst Israel was in the Wilderness three or four and twenty thousand lost their lives in one day about it 1 Cor. 10.7 Numb 25.9 and no marvel for before that at the very time of the giving of the Law there is a direct menace of utter Destruction to any one that should be guilty of this kind of Fornication He that sacrificeth unto any God save unto the Lord only he shall utterly be destroyed Exod. 22.20 But further it renders liable to Eternal Condemnation in the World to come It damns even to the Pit of Hell To prove this it were enough to say it shuts out of Heaven and if so then it must needs thrust down into Hell For after this Life duo sunt loca non est tertius ullis there are but two Receptacles for them Heaven and Hell and there is no third place for any at least in St. Augustine's Judgment And as in Mat. 25.31 c. the whole race of Mankind at the day of Judgment are cast but into two sorts Sheep and Goats that is Elect and Reprobates so no disposing of any but into two Sorts and Conditions Everlasting Life or Everlasting Death the one whereof is the state of those in Heaven the other of those in Hell So that what shuts out of Heaven shuts into Hell But in Rev. 22.8 it is expresly said that Idolaters with other like wicked Creatures shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the ssecond death Which what other can it mean but that they shall be cast into Hell into those regions of Darkness and Horrour where is weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth where their Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched In consideration therefore of these things let us abstain from all idolatrous Actions and flee from all Acts of this spiritual Fornication And as God is jealous of having any of his Honour given to any but himself so we must abstain from all appearance of every thing that may provoke him to jealousy Have we a care of hearkning to any that may seduce us or of obeying any that may go about to enforce us to Idolatry to be of that Religion which alloweth of it at least if it do not command and enjoyn the worshipping of Images Time may shew more need of such an Exhortation than at present some think there seems to be in the mean time if ever such occasion be remember I have warned you And this is all which by occasion of the Text I shall think good to speak of this first Notion in which Fornication is sometimes taken and spoken of namely Spiritual Fornication or Idolatry and the Worshipping of Idols and Images I now come to speak of Fornication in the second Notion of it and as it denotes that Sin which is also called Corporal Fornication Now in this Sense also it is taken sometimes more strictly and sometimes more largely In the strict Notion of it as it is called simple Fornication so it is defined to be concubitus soluti cum solutâ the lying together or the carnal Copulation of two single Persons out of the state of Matrimony In the large Notion of it so it is defined more generally to be humanus illicitus concubitus the unlawful Copulation of a man in any kind or respect Hence Adultery which is a distinct Sin from Fornication and so see Gal. 5.19 where the Apostle reckoning up the Works of the Flesh begins with Adultery Fornication c. yet is sometimes understood by the word Fornication Whence our Saviour saith Matth. 5.32 Whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of Fornication causeth her to commit Adultery where by Fornication in probability is to be understood Adultery and so in Matth. 19.9 Hence the word Fornication is sometimes put to signifie the Sin of Incest as in 1 Cor. 5.1 It is reported commonly that there is Fornication among you and such Fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles What is that why the incestuous Marriage of a Son with the Wife of his Father that one should have his Fathers Wife And so when the Apostle tells us 1 Thes 4.3 that it is the will of God that we should abstain from Fornication it is evident by the opposing Sanctification that thereby is meant all Uncleanness in general Suitably whereunto it is said v. 7. that God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness So that as by Sanctification in
his Eye too as well as all others could be shut out he durst not do it by which means he preserved his Integrity from violation So effectual is this Consideration towards the preventing of the Commission of this sin And therefore St. Ambrose was pleased himself to take notice of it Putas te solum esse cum fornicaris non recordans quia oculi Domini vident orbem terrarum Do you think you are alone all in secret when you are committing Fornication And do you not call to mind and remember that the Eyes of the Lord have this World and all the things contained therein within the view and prospect of them Which is as if he had said to remember and consider that the Eye of God will be upon you in the commission is enough to perswade you to fly Fornication O remember therefore if ever you be under Temptation to this sin that ye cannot do it but in the sight of God and that Thought will no doubt be mightily prevailing with you to forbear so sinful an Act you will not dare to do such filthiness in the sight of his divine Purity you will not be so impudent as to put so high an Affront upon his sacred Majesty as to act Whoredom in his presence 2. Beside the Eye of God upon you who is to be your Judge you have also the presence of Satan with you who does mean to be your Accuser The Devil is Pimp Paramount to the World not a piece of filthiness is committed not an act of Fornication done in it but he is as one at it by his Enticements and Pimperies helping to it Ipse suggerit ministrat fomenta luxuriae He finds and furnishes with fuel for Lust And as he knows all ye do now so he will tell all ye have done hereafter both where and when and with whom and how oft ye have committed that sin As therefore you would not have him accuse you of it hereafter so dread to commit it in his presence here As he now tempts you to it so he will be with you at the doing of it and afterwards accuse you for it 3. Even the Angels of God who loath to behold you in it yet do and will take so much notice of you at it as that they will be Witnesses against you when you shall come to be judged for it They will with Grief and Detestation declare how that whereas they were deputed to guard you from Temptation you refused to hearken to their Perswadings of you to the contrary and by the nastiness and filthiness of your Conversation drave them to forsake their Station and relinquish their Charge and leave you to your selves to be made a Slave to Satan and Lust and to commit Fornication 4. Besides the Eyes of all without you there is the Eye of your Conscience within you which will also be one day a thousand Witnesses against you The Apprehension of which were there nothing else were enough to deterr from so foul a fact Your own Conscience without other Accuser Witness or Judge will accuse convict and condemn you Nay more it will not only be Accuser Witness and Judge but Executioner too O how it will lash and scourge you both now and hereafter the gripings of it for present are very terrible but the gnawings of it for future will be intollerable It makes a Hell of your Heart here and will be another Hell to your Heart in the midst of Hell hereafter for there the Worm doth no more die than the Fire is quenched This the purblind Heathens were sensible of and represented under the Mythological Fictions of the Livers of Titius and Prometheus continually gnawed upon and eaten up yet without consumption thereof by an Eagle and Vultur Scelerati conscientiâ obstrepente condormire non possunt agitant eos furiae saith Philotas in Curtius Wicked Men cannot sleep in quiet for their Conscience which haunts and terrifies them like Furies In consideration whereof doubtless it was that Pythagoras gave that good and wise Counsel of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That no man should commit any filthiness either with another or alone by himself and that above all others he should stand in awe of himself that is dread and fear his own Conscience which will be privy to all you do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Isocrates observes how privately soever you act your Wickedness and out of the Eye and Knowledge of others No more running away from Conscience than from God which lindeed with Menander is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kind of God to all men that is Gods Viceroy and Deputy as it were placed by him in and over men to see and censure correct and condemn men for their Vices and Wickedness Having then Eyes such and so many as well within you as without you all upon you in every act of filthiness you commit how can you if you but take it into any Consideration be able to do a thing of so much loathsomness in the sight and presence in the view and beholding of so many and those such Eyes Think but of this and think of it well and by the thought of it with the Concurrence of God's Grace you will be able to overcome all Temptations to Lust and to flee Fornication Fifthly Consider of and meditate upon what is behind Let the last Things come into your Thoughts when you are under any Temptation to sin and especially to the sin of Uncleanness of any sort and the thought of them will be mightily conducing towards your preservation from that or any other sin What are they Why they are four Death Judgment Heaven and Hell and the serious Thought of any one of these is enough to give a stop to the Course of any Sinner in the height of his most eager Pursuit and Career to sin Fornicator Adulterer unclean person of any sort Death is behind Thou caust not live for ever here thou must die and die thou mayst thou knowest not how soon even in the very act of thy Uncleanness thou mayst expire and be cut off and O how dismal would thy Condition be if that should befall thee What can befall a man more woful and dreadful than to be catcht and cut off by Death in the very Act of sin And yet how many have been so surprized and seized upon taken and carried away by Death And what hath befaln any may justly be feared by all Remember thy end therefore and be afraid of such an end as this to be cut off at once both for sin and in sin and this will much conduce to a making thee fearful to commit this or any other sin But secondly not Death only but Judgment also is behind Thou Adulterer Fornicator unclean Person thou must not only die but be judged too for thy filthiness and uncleanness after Death For Whoemongers and Adulterers God will judge Heb. 13.4 Death will not so hit thee as
to make an end of thee it will but seize on thee like a Serjeant and imprison thee until the general Goal-delivery at the end of the World and then it will bring thee forth to Tryal and so and in such a case as it found thee it will bring thee forth to the great Tribunal and present thee to be judged by the great God and righteous Judge of quick and dead in the sight of Men and Angels Who would not tremble and be amazed to think of it that he should be brought forth and made appear in such an Assembly as will be at that great Assize at the end of the World in that Condition that he is in when he is in the act of his lewdness and in all the Circumstances of his filthiness O think of it that in such condition you may be brought into that Assembly and cannot possibly be assured but that in that Condition you shall be brought into it And such a Thought if well ruminated upon may be highly conducible to the prevailing with men to flee Fornication Yet thirdly there 's Heaven behind And Oh what have I said when I said Heaven Why I said a Place and a State of Pleasure Joy Glory and Happiness beyond all that the World hath or ever had or was so much as said or thought fancied or imagined by any man in it As it is written in 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the Heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The Poets Elysian Fields the Garden of Aloadine the Paradise of Mahomet are yea the Eden of God in this World was nothing to it The summ of it is full enjoyment of highest Blessedness without interruption or abatement to all Eternity But who is this for Why for the Godly and amongst them for those that possess their Vessel unto Sanctification and in Honour that defile not themselves with Women For neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Idolaters nor effeminate Persons nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. And therefore think of this when at any time you are tempted to Uncleanness and say Shall I for the love of a Whore lose my Heaven lose my Happiness Can the pleasure of all the Beauties in the World had I the Enjoyment of them all countervail the loss of Heaven Is not one days fruition of Heavens Joys beyond a Year yea a life spent it bruitish Pleasures If ye would but remember and shew your selves men and act according to right reason you would conclude Heaven too good to be forfeited upon so silly a Consideration as the Pleasure which Bruits have one with another and so would by that Consideration be mightily fortified against the Temptations which you may be assaulted with to uncleanness and much enabled to abstain from all the sins of the flesh and to flee Fornication Lastly There is Hell behind O what is that Why a Place and State of perfect Misery where is an utter deprivation of all Comfort and an exquisite infliction of bitterest Torment where is weeping and wailing and gnashing to Teeth where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched where the damned are implunged into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone that burneth to Eternity for ever living in the Extremities of the most dolorous and tormenting Pains And who are to be turned into this Why the Wicked and amongst the rest Fornicators Adulterers and such like Defilers of the Image of God and Members of Christ and Temple of the Holy Ghost There in that Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone is their part set out to be Rev. 21.7 And this shall they have at Gods hand for their Wickedness that they shall lie down in Sorrow and burn in the Sparks of their own kindling for evermore Now certainly if this were well thought of and considered by any man that were under Temptation to uncleanness he would never be so far overcome with the Lust so as to commit the sin What shall I go to Hell for a Whore Have I a mind to be damned for a Doxie Shall I plunge my self into Fire and Brimstone there to lie and burn and roar to all Eternity for the little short nasty Pleasure which is had in the Embraces of a Strumpet Thus thus at any time when you come under the Temptations of Lust call to mind and meditate a while upon this and all the other three last things Death and Judgment and Heaven and you will by Gods Grace be so wrought on in that Meditation and Consideration that you will both fly the Acts and detest the Thought of any such thing and abstain from all appearance of that evil Sixthly Consider and meditate upon the Purity Passion and Love of Christ There is Argument in all to perswade to Continency and Chastity It was a life of Purity that Christ led there was not the least Unchastity either acted syllabled or imagined done said or thought by him And his Life is that great Exemplar which we are to copy out in our Conversation He that saith he ahideth in him ought himself to walk as he walked When therefore you are at any time under Temptation to this sin thus say with and to your selves And is this to be Partaker of Christ's Holiness Is this to be conformable to Christ's Purity Did he ever any thing of or like to this kind of acting Was he either a Deflowerer of Maids or a Corrupter of Wives an Actor of or a Tempter to Uncleanness Where read ye any thing of his gallanting it to Ladies or so much as amorous courting or be-complementing of Women To think then how unsuitable such acting is unto the Conversation of Christ and how disagreeing with his Purity all manner of filthiness is may be one good Consideration to restrain us from all Impurity and to perswade to retain our Chastity Again Bitter was the Passion that Christ suffered Scoffs and Scorns Staves and Whips Nails and Thorns in one word the Cross the ignominious cruel and accursed Death on that he endured But what was all this for Why to redeem us from the guilt of sin that we might not be damned after our Repentance for what had passed before our repenting and not that only but to redeem us also from the filth of sin that being made whole by his Stripes we should sin no more So the Apostle expresly He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purisie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Tit. 3.14 And now did Christ suffer for all and so for this sin of ours and shall we again do that that he suffered for Shall we bring upon our selves that Guilt and Filth which he shed his precious Blood to cleanse us from How shall we not only render his Passion fruitless and in vain as to any good to our selves by it but